"I need to go." Katara whispered almost inaudibly, late that night. They were lying in bed, not-sleeping in silence. Katara didn't want to be held or touched. She was in shock, and no amount of consolation could change that. Aang gave her space, but was still concerned to the point where he was restless.

"Where?" Aang asked, sitting up on one of his elbows.

"To my father. I need to see him."

"Okay." Aang said simply, shifting to look up at the ceiling again.

"Okay?" Katara sat up fully, eyeing Aang.

"Yeah. That's fine. Go. You need to be with him." Aang shrugged, pretending like he didn't care that she had to leave.

Katara layed back down, backed turned from Aang. "I can't believe you." She said under her breath.

Now it was Aang's turn to sit up. "What?"

Katara turned to face him, eyes like daggers. "I said, I can't believe you!"

Aang shrunk back. "What? What did I do?"

"'What? What did I do?'" Katara mocked.

"Katara! Stop it!"

Katara sat up and looked at Aang in the eyes, glaring harshly. "I go everywhere with you! Everywhere! Even when you don't need my help, I go with you. I pack up my life and follow you. And you know why I do it? Even when I don't want to?"

Aang was silent.

"Because I love you! The least you could do is love me back!" The pain laced throughout her anger was evident.

Aang narrowed his eyes. "Just because I can't 'pack up my life and follow you' does not mean I don't love you, Katara! It means that I have a duty here, and I can't just leave!"

"Of course you can 'just leave'! It's a family emergency! You're my family! Everyone will understand!"

"No, Katara. They won't. It's not fair to them that I keep leaving!"

"There are other people who can teach them." Katara growled.

"But none of them were there. None of them have the experience that I do. None of them are me." Aang placed a hand on Katara's cheek. She turned her face away, tears streaming down her face.

"Stop making excuses Aang. At least pretend like you care!"

Aang began to boil, but he stopped himself, softening. "Of course I care, Katara." He rested his hands on Katara's shoulders.

"Then come with me!" She thrashed out of his grip.

"I can't!" Aang repeated forcefully "I have to execute the meeting with Yangchen! No one else can contact her, and I can't wait for too long!"

"I hate you! You're so selfish! All you care about is restoring your culture and connecting with past avatars! How bout you care about about me for once?!"

Her words stung him hard, but his rage overrode his hurt feelings. "When will you see how much this means to me and care about me for once?! All you talk about is how great of a person you are for putting up with the Acolytes and the restoration of my people who were murdered!"

"Oh that's all I talk about! Not how much I love you or how much I care about you! No, I never talk to you about that!"

Aang sighed, looking down. "I didn't say that. I just…I can't come!"

"Fine! Don't come! See how I care!" Katara leapt out of the bed and left their room, slamming the door on the way out.

Aang sighed. He would give her time to calm down and come to her senses. Then he would go out and comfort her.

He fell back onto the bed, shutting his eyes. 5 minutes. Then he would find her.